


Wings

by BellatrixOfOrion



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, World War II, a little bit of language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-04-21
Packaged: 2018-01-20 05:39:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1498717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BellatrixOfOrion/pseuds/BellatrixOfOrion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>World War II AU, Levi was a soldier and Eren was a prisoner. What goes up must come down.</p><p>You may not realize, after leaving your old life, that you weren't really living at all, and if you ever do, it’ll be too late. You can’t change your past. All that’s left to do is accept your fate, reality beating into you with every foreign command shouted, metal clicking into place three meters behind you.</p><p>It’s funny how the brain goes into overdrive right before it will never think again, time stretching into eternity. At least, that’s what it feels like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings

**Author's Note:**

> I hate having to write summaries for these oneshots because I feel like they'll give away too much.  
> I apologize for my summary, but please hang in there! I hope it'll be worth it!

You may not realize, after leaving your old life, that you weren’t really living at all, and if you ever do, it’ll be too late. You can’t change your past. All that’s left to do is accept your fate, reality beating into you with every foreign command shouted, metal clicking into place three meters behind you.

It’s funny how the brain goes into overdrive right before it will never think again, time stretching into eternity. At least, that’s what it feels like.

\-- -- -- --

My lungs burned, feet hammering the ground in rapid succession as I stumbled down the granite front steps, clinging to Levi’s sleeve as he helped me stay upright. I could hear him coughing, and even though I felt the wool of his field blouse beneath my fingertips, I couldn’t see him, the hints of the sun’s awakening light blocked by billows of black smoke. I could barely even open my eyes because they stung so much.

Only moments before, I had been shaken awake, unable to breathe properly, and before I knew it, Levi was pulling me to my feet and through the door. I knew it was him, even though I couldn’t see.

 We reached the tree line, sitting ourselves behind some thick trees, and watched the billowing black entity,  the spawn of flames as red as the _Blutfahne_ , arise from our temporary home, drifting away from us, carried on the early morning breeze.

Sleep and confusion muddled my thoughts, and Levi placed his grey-green jacket around my shoulders to keep me warm. The left sleeve had been burned off from the elbow down, most likely when he aided my escape from our caving shelter. I raised my head to thank him but stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed his tied back hair, the silky raven locks sticking out in a sprig from the back of his head. I reached over to run my hand over the exposed stubble of his undercut as he finished tucking his trousers into his jackboots. He placed his hand over mine and moved it so it lay between both of his, standing up and moving to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“To see if whoever lit the house is still around.”

“Did you see them? I mean, there was a lot of smoke.”

“Yeah, they were wearing my same uniform.”

“Oh. Wait, if they look like you, they’re soldiers, right? Why would they light the house? They’re on our side, right?”

He squatted to meet my eye level. “Hey, listen. Just because they’re wearing uniforms, it doesn’t mean they’re with us.” As I looked over his face, he frowned, and I knew he was tired.

“Then why…?”

“Hey, it’ll be alright. We’re brothers now, and I’m going to take care of you. We’ll make it out of this, okay?” He wrapped his arms around me, and even though I saw the uncertainty behind his forced smile, I couldn’t help but believe him. He told me to stay put, but as soon as he stood to scout out the area, a thundering voice commanded something I couldn’t understand.

“It means to march. We have to march. They’re going to have us march.” His voice faltered, and I realized we could do nothing else. I stood to do as I was told, falling in step with Levi. The armed men marched behind us, whispering to each other, this time in a language I understood.

“Just when I thought they would slip away from us again, we finally get them.”

“Fool, you should have known better. Sure, that fellow used to be one of the best, but he got soft as soon as he took the kid under his wing and fled.”

“Didn’t the kid turn in his own mother and sister?”  
  
“Yeah, as soon as he found they were hoarding weapons and planning an attack on the guards.”

“Well, it looks like the fag will finally get to see them again to tell them how sorry he is. They probably already know, anyway. Everyone knows how sorry he is.”

“Of course.”

They were doing that on purpose. They _knew_ I could hear them and understood every word they spat. The worst part was, I sort of believed every word.

I turned my eyes to the left, trying to keep my head as straight as possible. Levi was looking at me, thin brows drawn together, creasing the flawless skin of his forehead, and he suddenly looked a lot older than twenty-three. To anyone who didn’t know him well, it would look like he was just glaring, and though I knew better, this expression was still new to me. It made my entire being ache. This was always my destiny, but he shouldn’t be here.

I pulled his field blouse closer around my bony shoulders, burying my face in the collar, breathing in the scent of Levi, his ungloved hand brushing over the uneven flesh of my tattooed forearm, settling in my grasp. He squeezed my hand, and I _knew_ he could see the resignation in my eyes, written all over my face, dripping and soaking into the wool collar.

Soldiers came up behind us, shoving us towards tall poles, wooden and splintering, and secured us to them with scratchy ropes, digging into my wrists, hands losing feeling. The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon. As they rejoined the line, Levi started to sing softly, sweetly, a tune meant only for my ears.

 _We’ll meet again_  
 _Don’t know where_  
 _Don’t know when_  
 _But I know we’ll meet again_  
 _Some sunny day_  
 _Keep smiling through_  
 _Just like you always do_  
 _‘Til the blue skies  
_ _Drive the dark clouds far away_

The squad raised their rifles.

 _So, will you please say hello_  
 _To the folks that I know_  
 _Tell them I won’t be long_  
 _They’ll be happy to know_  
 _That as you saw me go  
_ _I was singing this song_

The lieutenant gave command, lead rippling our chests, and still Levi held my gaze, a faint smile gracing his crimson-dribbled lips.

 _We’ll meet again_  
 _Don’t know where_  
 _Don’t know when_  
 _But I know we’ll meet again  
_ _Some sunny day_

**Author's Note:**

> Lyrics are from "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynn
> 
> Also, I was thinking about rewriting this, but making it multi-chapter so I could give the full story. Let me know what you think!


End file.
